Improved electrochemical performance of Co-free Ni-rich cathode material for lithium-ion battery through multi-element composite modification

Layered Co-free Ni-rich materials are considered as promising cathode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high energy density and low cost advantages. However, the serious chemical-mechanical instability and poor cycle life of Co-free Ni-rich cathode materials could hinder their commercialization. Herein, we successfully prepared Mg/Ti/Sb co-doped and CeO2-coated LiNi0.9Al0.1O2 cathode material (M-LNA90) using a composite modification strategy with four inexpensive metal elements. Compared with the unmodified pristine LiNi0.9Al0.1O2 cathode material (P-LNA90), the cycling stability, rate performance, and discharge capacity of the M-LNA90 cathode were significantly improved, and the high-voltage performance was also excellent. At a high voltage of 2.8–4.5 V and 1 C, the capacity retention of M-LNA90 after 100 cycles reached 90.2 % (from 200 mAh g–1 to 181 mAh g–1), which was much higher than that the 60.1 % of P-LNA90 (from 192 mAh g–1 to 115 mAh g–1). Meanwhile, the structure and surface stability of M-LNA90 cathode showed excellent, which effectively suppressed particle cracking and interfacial side reactions. This work provides a new insight for the composition optimization and future design of layered Ni-rich cathode materials.